Competition comes in many different forms for your business. Whether you spot those competitors producing more vibrant images and getting more social media attention, or they have larger offices and more employees available, competition is one of the greatest fears for every business out there, no matter the industry. What gives you and your brand the advantage over your competitors? The answer often lies in technology and its vast implementation across various sectors in your organization.

Tech enables higher levels of automation, which then in turn allows your business to focus more on customers directly, on your unique selling proposition, on your support system, on your cash flow, and the like. Automation has empowered companies to invest all of their time and creativity into being more competitive. Here are a few hand-picked advantages of automation you can expect when you let go of the reins in certain segments of running your business.

Increased productivity

In essence, every individual wants to spend less time on the same tasks, especially the ones that seem menial and redundant, in order to allocate more of their time to projects that cannot be conducted by a program or a machine. Just remember the time when the only way you could track your inventory was by actually walking into your storage unit to count all of your items manually, and then note the numbers down on a piece of paper. Fast-forward a few decades, and you now have entire digital systems in place to do that for you, while your crew can deal with tasks that require a hands-on approach.

Look at marketing experts who spend most of their time tracking and comparing numbers for the performance of each campaign. Now, in addition to campaign monitoring and creation, the reports that come out of such efforts also take time – unless you use the right software to collate the data for you. With numbers delivered to your inbox, and neatly presented for all to understand, you can actually spend your time creating more effective campaigns instead of crunching numbers.

Higher employee retention rate

Competition has caused yet another issue for modern businesses – employee retention. With more companies popping up in each industry, your employees have the opportunity to pick and choose their positions and to jump ship if they feel the need to do that. In such situations, you need to make sure that your teams have all the perks at their disposal, and that you are doing your best to provide them with a few more reasons to stay loyal to your business.

Automating the payroll process with the help of a personalized payroll card for each and every employee is a great step in that direction. With a single decision, you effectively eliminate extraneous costs, give your employees access to their salary without any wait time, and you provide them with a personalized service they’ll appreciate. All of that takes the strain away from your accounting department, while you simultaneously inspire your employees to stay.

Saving time and money alike

Sure, you always do your best to increase your profits, get more clients, and add more value to your service. However, sometimes, one of the best ways to sustain your business growth and streamline it more effectively is with the help of cutting your existing costs. Although technology and automation tools do require certain investments, they are significantly lower than hiring an entire crew to handle something a program can. Take, for instance, chatbots that can reduce your customer support staff or eliminate night shifts altogether, while you provide the same speed of service and quick issue resolution. The same goes for other departments of your business, such as hiring one person to handle social media and use scheduling tools to automate the posting process while they focus on the creativity of the job, instead of having ten different people for each account.

Refined customer service

One of those traits we humans share is that we make mistakes. While it may be true that no customer expects any brand to be perfect by nature, you still need to make sure that your service, your products, and your reputation are handled with great care and with as few mistakes as possible. When it’s possible to automate a process with the help of a software tool that will eliminate errors – why not do precisely that?

This is especially applicable in time-sensitive and data-sensitive processes that rely on human judgment alone. When you have a customer support agent that has been battered by an unsatisfied customer one too many times, they might react poorly in certain situations. They might provide the wrong information. They might fail to respond to a single query in a slew of eager customers. To prevent all of those issues and errors of judgment, implementing automation in a wide range of instances can take some strain off your support team and help them manage their workload much more efficiently.

Automation is becoming a prerequisite, and not just an option for businesses to grow. Understanding how automated processes enable your business success will give you more ideas as to the best ways to implement automation and to skyrocket your business presence.

About Elaine Bennett

Elaine Bennett is a digital marketing specialist focused on helping Australian startups and small businesses grow. Besides that, she's a regular contributor for @Bizzmark_Blog and writes hands-on articles about business and marketing, as it allows her to reach even more entrepreneurs and help them on their business journey. Follow her on Twitter @ElaineCBennett